We don’t need Reality Steve’s spoilers or even sleuthers when we have Brad Womack himself giving away the ending to this season’s The Bachelor. He does all but shout he’s picked Emily Maynard:

Teleconference with Brad 12/15/10, after filming but before show began airing on what he’s looking for:

I’ve always wanted to wind up with somebody that is just genuinely sweet and that is just as much of a friend as anything else and so I found that and you know it’s someone that makes me want me to be a better person.…

Discussing Emily in last week’s South Africa episode (in video clip above):

Emily is one in a million….the person I am around Emily, I’m a much better person. I’m myself, but a much better self.

Brad on Emily (3/5, People)

“She went through a tough situation with the plane crash,” Womack, 38, says, “and becoming a single mom. But she rose to the occasion beautifully and I admire that. She makes me a better person when I am around her.”

Game over. Congratulations, Brad and Emily.

Brad Womack, for those that watched his first stint as The Bachelor, know he can be a pretty uptight, serious guy. Watch him here, in this interview this morning, and you’ll see how he’s changed. He’s looser, happier, and practically giddy about having found love. It’s also refreshing to hear a Bachelor/ette with a vocabulary that contains a word other than “amazing.” In discussing the 30 women on the show, he uses phrases like “bold personalities.” He’s also very complimentary to all of them.

Tonight Brad was on Jimmy Kimmel Live. He was just as happy sounding as in the interview clip above. He also revealed he didn’t sleep with any of the women while on the show.

I’ve always thought of Brad as a pretty straight shooter. I hope this new love works out for him.

The first shots of Brad Womack at the FRC (Final Rose Ceremony) are contained in this new ABC preview. And an interesting comment by host Chris Harrison, about Brad saying he’s found love:

Well we’ll have to see if they are together. Just because he’s in love doesn’t mean that it’s happily ever after. You’ll have to wait and see how it ends. But I will say this, he’s in love right now.

Some of the great scenery pictures in the Carribean are from a date with Ashley H. at the Cuisinart Resort in Rendezvous Bay, Anguilla. Chantal and Brad’s safari date takes place at another uber-luxurious resort, Lions Sands Game Preserve in Mpumalanga, SA. Yes, it’s also one of the places Jason and Molly stayed on their honeymoon.

When the Final Rose Ceremony comes around, thanks to the great sleuthers at FORT, we know Brad is staying at the luxurious six suite 26 Sunset Ave, Llandudno (virtual tour here.) The FRC seems to be a half-hour away, at Ernie Els Winery.

This may be the best season yet in terms of romantic and beautiful locations. It’s the journey and how the Bachelor/B’ette gets to the end, as well as the “edit” that makes the show so interesting, so don’t let the spoilers about who he chooses keep you from watching.

The Bachelor 15, with Brad Womack’s second stint in the lead role, begins January 3. Now that the ending to The Bachelor is posted online weeks before the show even begins airing, watching is more about the “why” than the “who” — the journey rather than the result. And the locations, which this season will include Costa Rica , St. Martin and Anguilla, and South Africa.

SPOILER ALERT: If you don’t want to know, click away now, because the ending is revealed below:

According to Reality Steve, Brad picks “the slapper”, Chantal O’Brien. In second place: Emily Maynard, who Steve says will be the next Bachelorette.

Chantal’s ex-husband is Jason Vena, of the band Acceptance.

Chantal’s father is a former NFL player who now owns the largest group of auto dealerships in Washington state:

[T]he O’Brien Auto Group, the largest and most successful auto dealership in Washington state with 10 stores and 14 franchises and nearly 900 employees. Annual sales exceeded $550 million in 2007.

For your scorecards, here’s a list of the 20 left standing after the “Meet and Greet.”

Alli Travis: 24, buyer for Abercrombie & Fitch, lives in Ohio.

Ashley Hebert: 25, Madawaska, Maine. Dental student at Univ. of Pennsylvania. Her ex-boyfriend died shortly before the show.

Ashley Spivey: 25, nanny from NY, gets the first impression rose, who recently lost her father.

Britt Billmaier: 24 or 25, Seattle, WA. A chef and former gymnast who works for a food magazine.

Chantal O’Brien: 28, Mercer Island, WA. Daughter of Mike O’Brien, former Seattle Seahawk and owner of the O’Brien Auto Group chain in the Pacific Northwest, where she works as her dad’s assistant. Married to Jason Vena of the band Acceptance from 2005 – 2009.

Emily Maynard: 24, Charlotte, North Carolina. Mother of a five year old daughter; the father is the late NASCAR driver Ricky Hendrick, who died in a plane crash in 2004.

Jackie Gordon: 27 or 28, from Rhode Island. Works with special needs kids in New York.

Keltie Colleen: Age not known, Alberta, Canada. Dancer/choreographer, lives in LA, once danced for the Rockettes.

Kim Coon: 25, Charlotte, North Carolina. Marketing, has a Masters degree, is a former Carolina Panthers cheerleader.

Lindsay Hill: 25, Frisco, Tx. 1st grade teacher who quit her job to do the show.

Lisa Morrisey: 24, Kansas City. Former track star.

Madison Garton: Age uncertain, New York. Associated with the New York Underground Vampire Club.

Marissa May: 26, Florida: Production Assistant for SUN Sports/FOX Sports Florida.

Meghan Merritt: 30, former marketing manager for Dolce & Gabbana.

Melissa Schreiber: 31, waitress in Boca Raton, Fla. Oldest woman on the show.

Michelle Money: 30, Salt Lake City, UT. Salon stylist, some modeling/acting. Divorced with a five year old daughter.

Raichel Goodyear: Age uncertain, Orange County, CA. Cosmetologist.

Sarah Powell: Age uncertain. Realtor.

Shawntel Newton 24, Chico, California. Mortician and embalmer at her family’s funeral home.

Stacey Queripel, age uncertain: Bartender in Boston, MA. Has a degree in Civil/Environmental Engineering.

I’m looking forward most to seeing Costa Rica, Anguilla and South Africa. According to the terrific sleuthers at FORT, these are some of the places we’ll see:

Costa Rica:
The Springs and The Whale’s tail
Maybe Venado and Lake Arenal

Anguilla/St. Martin:
Sandy Isle, Little Bay,
The Viceroy
Bankie Banx’s the Dune Preserve in Anguilla
Rendevous Bay in Anguilla
Cheri’s on St. Martin
Cap Juluca resort
Yacht Casuarina

South Africa:
Blyde River Canyon National Preserve
Mac Mac Pools
Lisbon Falls

The four home town dates:

Charlotte NC – Emily
Seattle WA – Chantal
Chico, CA – Shawntell
Madawashka ME – Ashley H

The final three who go on to South Africa: Chantal, Emily and Ashley H.

Bachelor Pad may have started a trend: Retreads. I don’t mean that in an unflattering way — I like watching many of the past contestants after their season is over — like Melissa Rycroft moving on to DWTS, Jesse Csincsak and his Bachelor reunions, Wes Hayden and his concert tours. Apparently, viewers do too.

The latest: Breaking with the tradition of recent years, the star of Bachelor 15 will not be an Ali Fedotowski reject, but a former Bachelor. Which one? Brad Womack of Season 11, that aired in the fall of 2007. Brad, you may recall, was the first Bachelor to reject both of his final choices at the Final Rose Ceremony. It was like leaving not one, but two brides at the alter.

What a brilliant choice by Mike Fleiss & Co. Not only do the show’s loyal viewers remember Brad, the sexy bar owner from Texas, but he turned out to be a polarizing figure, which is great for ratings. He’s also a great choice for new viewers who don’t remember him from Season 11 because he is very hot looking. Like eye candy. And, both new and old fans of the show will tune in to see if the season ends with another train wreck and who the road kill will be, all the while hoping he really finds love this time. (I’d call it built-in suspense, but I’m sure Reality Steve will publish the final outcome before the first episode even airs.)

The question is, why would Brad put himself through this again? If you missed Season 11, here’s a short recap in pictures:

Brad picks out a ring:

Brad, not having fun at the Final Rose Ceremony:

Brad breaking Jenni’s heart:

Deanna, after Brad breaks her heart:

Brad breaking his own heart:

What a great season this could turn out to be. If only they’d also bring Bettina back — Brad should never have let her get away. But her family thought he wasn’t educated enough for her — and her father basically said so on air. You never see that anymore, now they just show the parents claiming to be thrilled with the choice. (Or, like Melissa’s parents, who refused to go on the show, but attended every taping of DWTS, we never got to see the juicy conversations that must have preceded that decision.)

Say what you want about how much you liked Chris L. from Ali’s season, but he isn’t Bachelor material. He doesn’t have the “wow” factor. (Either did Ali, Jake, or Jason. But that’s another story.) I really think Brad, on the other hand, like Deanna and even Jillian in her season, will make for good TV.

Tune into Dancing With the Stars this Monday night, when Brad will be sitting next to Chris Harrison as he makes the announcement. Filming begins next weekend. And yes, Reality Steve, as always, broke the news first.

Chris Harrrison’s new blog is up on last night’s not-so explosive shocker of Rozlyn being asked to leave the show for having an “inappropriate” relationship with a staffer. He says he’s going to tell us much more, but the more turns out only to be that he’s willing to say the “inappropriate” relationship was a “physical” relationship, not one just about feelings. Of course, he still doesn’t say “sexual relationship” which Rozlyn has denied.

I think Chris is still playing with words. Kissing and hugging are physical, but don’t always lead to a sexual relationship. For example, we saw Jake and Rozlyn kiss early on in last night’s show. I doubt anyone would characterize that as a sexual relationship. Yet Chris wants us to think there is a sexual relationship, even though he won’t use the word. If there was one, and the Bachelor had proof, they’d say so. The fact that they won’t means they can’t prove it. He talks about the other girls witnessing the physical relationship. That’s another clue it wasn’t sexual. Who has sex with other girls in the room — or even with the door open, in a house where the other occupants are your competitors?

Rozlyn did not seem surprised, and somehow, she knew enough not to respond to Chris’ allegations. I see two possibilities. One is the scene was edited after filming (hacked to death, really) so that what we ultimately saw had been cleansed of her denials. The other is that Chris and the exec producers, in addition to contacting their lawyers as he told us last week, gave Rozlyn’s agent a heads-up ahead of time — as well as permission to tell her what was about to happen, and advise her on how to react on camera.

It sure didn’t seem like what Chris was telling her came out of left field. Their conversation lacked spontaneity. I’d bet Rozlyn knew what he was going to do when he pulled her outside, and she had been well-coached how to respond : stare back at him, don’t confess, don’t cry, don’t make any admissions.

They should play that video to people in jail, so they know what not to do the next time they get stopped by the police. Jails are filled with people who thought if they could only tell their side of the story, the cops would see it their way. In waiving their rights and trying to talk themselves out of trouble, they usually sink themselves. Rozlyn’s refusal to engage Chris results in no corroboration of the show’s allegations. A failure of proof. She walks.